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Iranian Leaders on their Desire to Destroy IsraelPosted by: Lea Speyer January 31, 2014 , 8:58 am“There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.” (Proverbs 6:16-19)

It is no secret that Iran openly calls for the destruction of the State of Israel. Here are some comments made by leading Iranian leaders on their desires to annihilate the “Zionist enemies”.Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali KhameniAyatollah Koheminei(Photo: Foundation of Holy Defence Values, Archives and Publications/Wikimedia Commons)“Israel’s leaders sometimes threaten Iran, but they know that if they do a damn thing, the Islamic Republic will raze Tel Aviv and Haifa to the ground.” “Israel is the sinister, unclean rabid dog of the region.”President of Iran Hassan RouhaniPresident of the Islamic Republic of Iran Hassan Rouhani. (Photo: Facebook)(Photo: Facebook)“The Imam [Khomeni] set long term goals for the day the occupying Zionist regime is no longer in the region. The formula for this move must be discussed in the government.” Commander in Chief of the Iranian Army Maj. Gen. Ataollah Salehi(Photo: Wikipedia)“The Army of Iran can by itself destroy Israel.”Deputy Chief of Staff Gen. Mohammad Hejazi(Photo: Iranbriefing.net)“According to the Supreme Leader’s statement marking Nowruz, if Israel acts foolishly, Tel Aviv and Haifa will be annihilated…The armed forces are prepared with all their power to execute the orders of the Supreme Leader in minimum time.”Religious figure Ayatollah Hossein Nouri Hamedani(Photo: Wikipedia)“The enemies are talking about the option on the table. They should know that the first option on our table is the annihilation of Israel.”Assembly of Experts Chairman Ayatollah Mohammad Reza Mahdavi Kani(Photo: Wikipedia)“We must prepare no effort in liberating holy Jerusalem and cutting off the hands of the infidels from this holy site.”Supreme Leader’s representative in the Revolutionary Guards Hojatoleslam Ali Shirazi(Photo: Twitter) “The Zionist regime will soon be destroyed, and this generation will be witness to its destruction.”Member of the Presidium of the Assembly of Experts Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami(Photo: theiranproject.com)“Iran has long-range missiles that can reach 1,500 kilometers…The Supreme Leader maintained that ‘every combatant Palestinian group that fights the Zionist regime will receive the support of the Iranian regime.’”Iranian Ministry of Defense(Photo: Wikipedia)“If once the destruction and demise of occupying Israel was an impossible and unattainable dream, today thanks to the historic and intelligent actions of Imam Khomeini, it has become possible and is actually in the process of occurring.”Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC)(Photo: Fars News Agency)“The day is near in which the sword of resistance and Islamic Awakening will cut off the blood supply of the occupiers of the holy land of Palestine.”Member of the Assembly of Experts Ahmad Alamolhoda(Photo: Wikipedia) “The destruction of Israel is the idea of the Islamic Revolution in Iran and is one of the pillars of the Iranian Islamic regime. We cannot claim that we have no intention of going to war with Israel!”Read more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/iranian-leaders-desire-destroy-israel/#bA8Ec5fpEilDhujA.99

Minister Steinitz: “Abu Mazen is World’s Number 1 Anti-Semite”Posted by: Aryeh Savir January 31, 2014 , 8:59 am“Whoever hates disguises himself with his lips and harbors deceit in his heart; when he speaks graciously, believe him not, for there are seven abominations in his heart; though his hatred be covered with deception, his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.” (Proverbs 26:24-26)Speaking at the INSS (The Institute for National Security Studies) annual series yesterday Minister of Strategic Affairs Yuval Steinitz, stated that PA Chairman Mahmud Abbas is today the world’s greatest ant-Semite. “After Ahmadinejad’s dissention Abu Mazen is the world’s Number 1 anti-Semitic leader. There is an anti-Semitic subtext prevalent throughout the Palestinian Authority’s curriculum and the children programs. The subtext is very clear – the State of Israel and the Jews should be destroyed. Abbas does not actively finance terror, but he who denied the Holocaust now denies the existence of a Jewish Nation and its right to a state.”Relating to the current peace negotiations, Steinitz said: “I wish to voice our truth: There is no peace process. If an agreement is signed with the Palestinian Authority, it will be a diplomatic agreement, not a peace agreement. There can be no peace agreement until the Palestinian education system changes. Indeed, there is no leader in the world who incites against Israel and against the Jewish people like Abu Mazen” he said.“The diplomatic process does not guarantee good security arrangements. No one can guarantee that what happened in the past elsewhere, for example in Gaza, Lebanon, and cities in the West Bank, cannot reoccur in Shechem as well. We must work to guarantee our security – and not rely on the Palestinian Authority,” he added.Steinitz called on Abbas to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, adding: “Such recognition would not eliminate the incitement and poison being trickled to the younger Palestinian generation, but it would serve as a basis for a dialogue.”Read more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/minister-steinitz-abu-mazen-worlds-number-1-anti-semite/#fUfqPwJwq6yEW5bQ.99

Joel C. Rosenberg's BlogAre the rumors true? Is Netanyahu about to make “painful concessions” in the peace process? Here’s what we know.In Uncategorized on January 31, 2014 at 4:51 pmnetanyahu-Obama-inPMofficeUPDATED: (Washington, D.C.) — The very fact that Israeli leaders on the center-right of the political spectrum are getting so anxious, even angry, strongly suggests two rumors are true:The Obama administration and the Europeans are putting enormous pressure on the Netanyahu government behind the scenes to say “yes” on to an American-crafted peace plan; andNetanyahu is seriously contemplating agreeing to deeply painful and enormously controversial concessions, possibly even dividing Jerusalem and rolling Israel back to her pre-1967 borders.Many analysts have felt for the past year that Secretary Kerry’s frenetic efforts to jump-start the Israeli-Palestinian peace process were going nowhere and doomed to failure. Now there is rapidly growing evidence that Kerry has driven the two parties into the corner, and that he appears to be putting the most pressure on the Israeli side to make the deepest concessions.Here’s what we know so far:In his address to the U.N. General Assembly last October, Netanyahu signaled he was preparing to make “painful concessions” for peace. “Israel continues to seek an historic compromise with our Palestinian neighbors, one that ends our conflict once and for all,” the PM said. “We want peace based on security and mutual recognition, in which a demilitarized Palestinian state recognizes the Jewish state of Israel. I remain committed to achieving an historic reconciliation and building a better future for Israelis and Palestinians alike. Now, I have no illusions about how difficult this will be to achieve. Twenty years ago, the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians began. Six Israeli prime ministers, myself included, have not succeeded at achieving peace with the Palestinians. My predecessors were prepared to make painful concessions. So am I. But so far the Palestinian leaders haven’t been prepared to offer the painful concessions they must make in order to end the conflict.”At the time, it wasn’t clear anyone was listening to that paragraph, or believed him — after all, the bulk of that speech was about the Iran nuclear threat. But Israelis are listening now, and some are growing angry, even those within his own government.Two weeks ago, for example, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon lashed out at the American plan, describing it as worthless, naïve, “messianic,” and dangerous. ”The American security plan presented to us is not worth the paper it’s written on,” Ya’alon said. “It contains no peace and no security. Only our continued presence in Judea and Samaria and the River Jordan will endure that Ben-Gurion Airport and Netanya don’t become targets for rockets from every direction. American Secretary of State John Kerry, who turned up here determined and acting out of misplaced obsession and messianic fervor, cannot teach me anything about the conflict with the Palestinians….Abu Mazen (Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas) is alive and well thanks to us. The moment we leave Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) he is finished. In reality, there have been no negotiations between us and the Palestinians for all these months – but rather between us and the Americans. The only thing that can ‘save us’ is for John Kerry to win a Nobel Prize and leave us in peace.” The Obama administration was furious, and Yaalon apologized, sort of, under pressure from Netanyahu.This week, Israeli Economic Minister Naftali Bennett lashed out at the American plan and harshly warned Netanyahu not to give away Judea & Samaria and put Jewish settlers under Palestinian sovereignty. “Our forefathers and our descendants will not forgive an Israeli leader who gives up our country and divides our capital,” Bennett warned, adding that the government’s growing fear of boycotts “is what will bring on the boycott. This is no way to handle negotiations, running frightened between the capitals of the world.” Bennett later added that the Prime Minister’s approach “reflects the loss of a moral compass. We didn’t experience 2,000 years of yearning for the Land of Israel so that we could live under the government of Abu Mazen (Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas). Anyone thinking of placing the lives of Jews in the Land of Israel under Palestinian rule is pulling the rug out from under our presence in Tel Aviv….I call on the prime minister to immediately reject this terrible idea.” Netanyahu’s team threatened to fire Bennett from the ruling coalition unless he took back his personal attack. Eventually, Bennett apologized, sort of.Such tensions would not be flaring this intensely if Kerry wasn’t about to lower the boom on Israel, and center-right political leaders in Israel weren’t so worried Netanyahu was about to agree to far-reaching concessions.Consider the following:What is in the ”framework agreement”? The Obama team has leaked key details to Thomas Friedman of the New York Times:The “Kerry Plan,” likely to be unveiled soon, is expected to call for an end to the conflict and all claimsfollowing a phased Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank (based on the 1967 lines)with unprecedented security arrangements in the strategic Jordan Valley.The Israeli withdrawal will not include certain settlement blocsbut Israel will compensate the Palestinians for them with Israeli territory.It will call for the Palestinians to have a capital in Arab East Jerusalemand for Palestinians to recognize Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people.It will not include any right of return for Palestinian refugees into Israel proper.Is there evidence that Netanyahu and Abbas are trying to prepare their people for painful concessions? Here’s an interesting analysis of the “framework agreement” — and Sec. Kerry’s effort to hammer out “interim” deals on both the Iran issue and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — by David Ignatius of the Washington Post.[The] issues may still prove insoluble: Listening to Israeli Finance Minister Naftali Bennett at a conference here Tuesday, it was clear how vehemently the right-wing settlers’ movement he represents would oppose a Palestinian state. “Our forefathers and ancestors and our descendants will never forgive an Israeli leader who gives away our land and divides our capital,” Bennett said, his voice almost a shout.Yet the prospect of a framework agreement, of the sort Kerry is seeking, seemed tantalizingly close in comments by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to the gathering, which was sponsored by the Institute for National Security Studies.Netanyahu told the conference that the U.S. was compiling a document that would summarize the points that have emerged during the months of secret Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.He said that Israel might agree to further talks under this framework, while not accepting all the U.S. ideas, as long as the Palestinians agree to a demilitarized state that guarantees Israel’s security and accepts Israel’s status as a homeland for the Jewish people.Abbas said in televised remarks to the conference that he might be willing to accept a phased, three-year Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and continued presence by other military forces, as ways of satisfying Netanyahu’s security concerns.Amos Yadlin, a retired chief of Israeli military intelligence who heads the institute that hosted the conference, described Kerry’s goal: “It’s a framework agreement, or an agreement on a framework, or an American piece of paper,” he said, but the aim was to roll forward the negotiations for another nine months.The White House has backed Kerry’s attempt to pull together the parameters that have emerged in the negotiations, rather than simply striving for another round of confidence-building measures, such as Israeli releases of Palestinian prisoners and Abbas’ restraint from taking his case for a Palestinian state to the United Nations.As in the Iran negotiations, a framework agreement would patch over what are still wide differences on a permanent, final-status agreement. But they would reduce the risk of outright conflict while diplomacy continues.What are the political ramifications inside Israel if Netanyahu says “yes” to the U.S. “framework agreement”? Useful analysis by Jeffrey Goldberg of Bloomberg News:U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is obviously getting somewhere in his attempt to achieve a framework agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, because all the right people — the far-right people — are going a little nuts.At a security conference this week in Israel, Naftali Bennett, the leader of the Jewish Home party — reacting to an earlier suggestion made by the leader of his governing coalition, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that Jewish settlers could conceivably find themselves living under Palestinian rule one day — asked, “Why should Jews live in Tel Aviv with Israeli sovereignty and in Eli and Hebron under Palestinian sovereignty? Open up the Book of Genesis and form an opinion. I demand that this idea be removed from the agenda.”….Netanyahu, unlike a set of government ministers to his right, including Bennett, understands that Israel’s addiction to West Bank settlements is undermining the legitimacy of his country, and endangering its role as a democratic haven for Jews.This is why he appears to be taking small rhetorical steps in Kerry’s direction — floating the idea that Jews on the West Bank could remain where they are under Palestinian rule (a proposal the Palestinians, so far, at least, reject) is one way he’s signaling to the Israeli public that unpopular decisions might be coming.Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas also seems to be bending under Kerry’s pressure, offering just this week a concession of his own: Israelis forces, he said, could remain in parts of the West Bank for as long as three years after an agreement is struck. Previously, Abbas had argued that all Israeli forces must depart as soon as a deal is made.For Israelis, there are two ways to look at Kerry’s Herculean (and often Sisyphean) efforts to outline an agreement between extremely hesitant parties.The first way is Bennett’s: Much of the Israeli right sees Kerry as the enemy, trying to break the will of their prime minister in order to uproot settlers and create a Palestinian state that will become a source of endless violence.The second way is the one favored by Israelis of the center and the left: suspicion of grandiose American schemes but also a sober realization that someone needs to figure out a way to disentangle Israel from the lives of its Palestinian neighbors, and that that person may well be Kerry.The particular difficulty for Netanyahu is that he might have both of these understandings fighting it out in his head.

IDF Vigilance Uncovers Three Hidden Weapons Cache (Photos)Posted by: Ahuva Balofsky January 24, 2014 , 9:35 am“Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently…” (Deuteronomy 4:9)A checkpoint in the Israeli Barrier in the West Bank, near Abu Dis. (Photo: Justin McIntosh/ Wiki Commons)Israel’s Defense Forces demonstrated again this week the importance of constant vigilance in Israel. Three separate incidents occurred involving hidden weapons uncovered by IDF forces.In one particularly galling occurrence, IDF soldiers discovered an improvised weapon concealed in a child’s knapsack. The makeshift firearm and ammunition were found in a vehicle during a routine inspection Tuesday at a Jordan Valley checkpoint. “The driver aroused suspicion after a preliminary search,” said Captain Sefi Mor, an IDF company commander involved in the inspection. “He seemed anxious, so we decided to perform a comprehensive search of the vehicle.” The checkpoint is located not far from the driver’s home.This checkpoint is on a major traffic artery, and a target for terrorism and weapons smuggling, so soldiers stationed there are always on alert. The following day, another suspect was detained at the same checkpoint, while a month and a half ago, explosives were found in another vehicle trying to pass through.“A large number of people pass through the checkpoint to get to work in the Jordan Valley, and we check anyone who seems suspicious,” Cpt. Mor said. “It’s clear to the [Kfir] battalion’s fighters [who are stationed there] that their mission is to defend civilians and allow them to sleep safely at night.”Meanwhile, a large weapons cache was found in Hebron on Wednesday. The cache included an M-16 firearm, some 8,000 bullets and other weapons parts. Two Palestinian suspects were arrested and detained for questioning.In another incident, a military-grade explosive device, an Uzi firearm and ammunition were uncovered during a routine search near Jenin.“We found the weapons in different hiding places, behind wardrobes and under drawers,” said Lt. Col. Roi Nahari, a battalion commander involved in the search operation. “We also discovered hiding places inside the walls of houses.”“We use proven methods, including tactical methods and special devices, to reach concealed weapons,” Lt. Col. Nahari continued. “Palestinians hide weapons in homes using sophisticated methods, but with the help of intelligence and the good work of IDF forces, we succeed in seizing the weapons.”Weapon hidden in a child's backpack found in the Jordan Valley. (Photo: IDF Blog) Improvised weapon hidden in a child’s backpack found in the Jordan Valley. (Photo: IDF Blog)Some of the weapons found by the IDF in Jenin. (Photo: IDF Blog)Some of the weapons found by the IDF in Jenin. (Photo: IDF Blog)Weapons discovered in Hebron. (Photo: IDF Blog)Weapons discovered in Hebron. (Photo: IDF Blog)Ammunition discovered in Hebron. (Photo: IDF Blog)Ammunition discovered in Hebron. (Photo: IDF Blog)Read more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/idf-vigilance-uncovers-hidden-weapons/#p8xA83mgFGztwsVc.99

Israeli President: Iran’s Rouhani Missed Historic OpportunityPosted by: Anav Silverman January 24, 2014 , 9:35 am“The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him and say, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. And I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great host, all of them with buckler and shield, wielding swords. Persia, Cush, and Put are with them, all of them with shield and helmet.” (Ezekiel 38: 1-23)DAVOS – Israeli President Shimon Peres sharply addressed the speech made by the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland on Thursday morning, January 23.“The most significant remarks were the ones he [Rouhani] didn’t make – he didn’t express support for peace in the Middle East,” the 91-year-old Israeli president stated in press conference he held with international and Israeli press at the World Economic Forum, following Rouhani’s speech.“He is the only leader I know who didn’t say clearly that the time has come to make peace between Israel and the Arabs,” pointed out Peres.Peres also noted that Rouhani had “excluded with a smile the reference to peace made by [WEF Chairman Klaus Schwab] and when asked if his vision included all countries, he [Rouhani] said it included only the countries that Teheran will accept. That is some definition.”“He didn’t announce that in order to reduce the bloodshed in Syria he’s going to stop sending arms and money to Hezbollah to the stop the killing. He could have announced that seeing as he doesn’t want a nuclear bomb that he will stop building long range missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads. He didn’t announce that Iran will stop being the center of terror in our time,” noted Peres.Peres said that Israel was ready to make peace with the Iranian people and that historically they have never been enemies. “We extend our hand for peace, including to the Iranian people, but today was a great occasion that was missed.”In response to questions from the press President Peres said Rouhani’s speech was, “half a job and the most important half wasn’t done.”“Peace is peace for all people, without exclusion. President Rouhani doesn’t need the P5+1 to stop building missiles; he doesn’t need their permission to stop sending arms to Hezbollah and elsewhere. There is an offer on the table to enable Iran to have what other countries have but they have to stop threatening and terrorizing, even while making speeches like this one. There is no room to postpone.”Rouhani, who was elected President of the Islamic Republic last year, declared during his Davos address that “I strongly and clearly state that nuclear weapons have no place in our security strategy and Iran has no motivation to move in that direction.In 2002, an Iranian dissident group known as the M.E.K. obtained and shared documents revealing a clandestine nuclear program that had been previously unknown to the United Nations. The program included a vast uranium enrichment plant at Nantaz and the United States then accused Tehran of an “across-the-board pursuit of weapons of mass destruction.”In 2010, the United Nations’ nuclear inspectors declared that they have extensive evidence that Iran’s military was developing a nuclear warhead. In 2012, Iran stated that it was building 3,000 uranium-enrichment centrifuges at the Nantaz plant. And in April 2013, Iran announced an expansion of its nuclear fuel production and other atomic energy advances.Read more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/israeli-president-irans-rouhani-missed-historic-opportunity/#co8iqUVQ7BJ54svF.99

Middle East Peace Process: America’s Wishful ThinkersPosted by: Douglas Murray January 23, 2014 , 10:56 amRemember how everyone laughed when U.S. President George W. Bush appeared unable to remember the ending of that saying: “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” Well nobody seems to be laughing, or even noticing, that President Bush’s successor is allowing America’s enemies to fool him repeatedly — and that he is showing no apparent shame at all.Take just two recent events: First, Iran. Over the ever-extending holiday period, while parts of America’s foreign policy bureaucracy were still congratulating themselves over the success of the Geneva talks process, Iran showed not only what it thinks of that process but what it has been showing in plain sight for years.For instance, since the signing of the Geneva agreement Tehran has pushed ahead with its creation of a nuclear bomb as if the agreement had never happened and this was all just business as usual. The Geneva deal included a “promise” from the Iranians not to bring any new centrifuges into operation for six months. Yet in the period since the “historic” signing of that agreement, Iran has continued to build second and third generation centrifuges to enrich uranium to weapons-grade levels. Indeed while most people in the West were still finishing up their dessert, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, Ali Akbar Salehi was boasting as much on Iranian state television. At the end of December he said, “We have two types of second-generation centrifuges… We also have future generations [of centrifuges] which are going through their test.”Of course for the few who did notice this, many others were still finding new ways in which to be fooled by the statement. For instance The Guardian newspaper in Britain unsurprisingly took that tack, willing not just themselves, but their readers, to be as fooled as well. The comments of Ali Akbar Salehi were simply Salehi’s attempt “to placate hardline critics of Geneva nuclear deal,” the paper claimed.But at least The Guardian was noticing the events — even while putting its inevitable spin on them. The U.S. Department of State seemed to have no particular response at all. But then to be fair to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, it is possible that he was too busy being fooled for the hundredth time over his other great foreign policy mission to notice he had been fooled for the umpteenth time in a year by the Iranians, too.Because of course if there is one cause that Secretary Kerry is devoting even more of his time to than the matter of Iran’s nuclear project, it is his attempt to be the person who solves the Israel-Palestinian dispute. Not for nothing has he been clocking up all those air-miles. No, Kerry has been managing to fly to the Middle East most months to engage with a party which even the kindest critic must admit makes the flaunting behaviour of the Iranian regime look positively secretive. He must hear the sound of Nobel Prizes ringing in his ears, or possibly a future run for the Presidency.For let us not forget that the premise upon which Mr. Kerry’s peace plan, indeed anybody’s peace plan, must built, is the presumption that the talks are between two parties who are sincerely and demonstrably committed to peace and not on the determination of one to annihilate the other. That is the presumption from which Mr Kerry is starting, surely? So how to explain that on the Palestinian side there appears to be, not exactly for the first time in living memory, a certain number of problems of trust which are going unaddressed by Washington?Take one of the senior Palestinian officials, a close associate of Mahmoud Abbas. During the same period that the Iranians were expressing their own particular intentions, it transpired again (exposed thanks to the invaluable vigilance of Palestinian Media Watch) that the Palestinians were doing exactly the same thing. In the last days of December, Fatah central committee member Abbas Zaki had posted an interview on his Facebook page which he had given to Syrian TV. In that interview, he makes the usual noises about the Palestinian Authority [PA] agreeing to a treaty with Israel if – and only if – a Palestinian state can established on the 1967 lines. So far, so good for Mr. Kerry. But then Mr. Zaki says something which should not be good for Mr. Kerry at all. For Mr. Zaki goes on to stress very clearly that the 1967 lines are not the final borders which he is looking to. No, the 1967 borders will only be the beginning. After that the plan is to continue to other ends. Or as Mr Zaki puts it:“Even the most extreme among us, Hamas, or the fighting forces, want a state within the ’67 borders. Afterward, we [will] have something to say, because the inspiring idea cannot be achieved all at once. [Rather] in stages.”Rather than a one-off piece of steam-letting off, or youthful exuberance, this is something of an idée fixe for Mr. Zaki. For instance, in a 2011 interview on Al-Jazeera, he mentions the same step-by-step plan. Asked by the interview why the PA does not come out more plainly with its intention of destroying the state of Israel, Mr. Zaki says, “You can’t say it to the world. You can say it to yourself.”But, he is excited to say, if Israel returns to the 1967 lines, then it cannot survive and “Israel will come to an end.” As he said, “the President [Mahmoud Abbas] understands, we understand, and everyone knows that it is impossible to realize the inspiring idea, or the great goal, in one stroke.”Both the Iranian and Palestinian statements occurred within only a few days over the holiday period. Yet the U.S. Administration and its vast bureaucracy of wishful-thinkers continue to be fooled. After being fooled a thousand or so times perhaps, there is no shame left to be felt. But for the rest of us there is only the remaining feeling that if there were any laughter to be had in all this, it ran out some time ago.Read more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/middle-east-peace-process-americas-wishful-thinkers/#R0T310ditd4AVOYA.99

Confirmed: U.S. Chief Facilitator of Christian PersecutionPosted by: Raymond Ibrahim January 21, 2014 , 2:29 pmProminent indicators confirm that the U.S. is the chief facilitator of the persecution of Christians around the world today.According to the recently released 2014 World Watch List, which ranks the 50 nations where Christians are most persecuted, Syria is the third worst nation in the world in which to be Christian, Iraq is fourth, Afghanistan fifth, and Libya 13th. All four countries receive the strongest designation, “extreme persecution” (other designations are “severe,” “moderate,” and “sparse” persecution).Aside from being so closely and harshly ranked, these four nations have something else in common: heavy U.S. involvement. Three—Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya—were “liberated” thanks to U.S. forces, while in the fourth, Syria, the U.S. is actively sponsoring “freedom fighters” against the regime, many of whom would be better labeled “terrorists.”The Syrian situation alone indicts U.S. foreign policy. According to Reuters:Open Doors, a non-denominational group supporting persecuted Christians worldwide, said on Wednesday it had documented 2,123 “martyr” killings, compared with 1,201 in 2012. There were 1,213 such deaths in Syria alone last year, it said. “This is a very minimal count based on what has been reported in the media and we can confirm,” said Frans Veerman, head of research for Open Doors. Estimates by other Christian groups put the annual figure as high as 8,000.”While most Americans are shielded from the true nature of the war by the U.S. media’s reluctance to report on it, Arabic media, websites, and activists daily report and document atrocity after atrocity—beheadings and bombed churches, Christians slaughtered for refusing to convert to Islam, and countless abducted for ransom or rape—at the hands of those whom the U.S. supports.Sen. John McCain meets with “Syrian rebels,” many of whom are not Syrian, and one of which is a known kidnapper (L – Muhammad Nour). (Photo: Raymond Ibrahim) Sen. John McCain meets with “Syrian rebels,” many of whom are not Syrian, and one of which is a known kidnapper (L – Muhammad Nour). (Photo: Raymond Ibrahim)It’s enough to point out that “the largest massacre of Christians in Syria,” to quote a top religious leader, was left wholly unreported by any major U.S. news network.At any rate, the statistics speak for themselves: Syria, which used to be religiously tolerant, is now, in the context of the United States’ trying to bring “democracy” to it, the third worst country in the world in terms of “extreme persecution” of Christians.The Blaze reports that Dr. David Curry, president of Open Doors,charged that the Obama administration has essentially declined to make the protection of religious minorities a priority . . . “There are many instances where the vacuum of leadership and spokesmanship has created a real problem,” said the human rights leader. “I would say that every significant data point on this year’s ‘2014 Watch List’ is worse—and I think a factor in it is a lack of leadership from Western governments including . . . the U.S. in terms of religious freedom.”But it’s worse than that. Far from taking any action or providing leadership—or simply ceasing to support the terrorists responsible—the Obama administration recently tried to go to war with Syria on behalf of the “freedom fighters,” amazingly, in the name of “human rights” (Apparently the unsubstantiated rumor that Assad massacred people is enough for the U.S. to go to war, but the ongoing and well-documented massacres of Christians and other civilians at the hands of the opposition is not enough for the U.S. to stop supporting them.)What’s worse, even the most misinformed mainstream-media-watching American today knows that the so-called “Arab Spring,” which was hailed to justify U.S. support for “rebels” of all stripes—in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood (which months ago destroyed some 80 churches); in Libya, al-Qaeda, which has turned Benghazi into a terror zone; and now the “freedom fighters” in Syria—is not what it was touted to be.In other words, at this point, whenever the U.S. intervenes in an Islamic nation, Islamists come to power. This is well demonstrated by the other three nations to which the U.S. brought “democracy” and where Christian minorities suffer “extreme persecution”:Afghanistan: The supposedly “moderate” Karzai government installed by the U.S. upholds many of the draconian laws enforced by the Taliban—including the apostasy law, fiercely persecuting those who seek to convert to Christianity—and, in 2011, under U.S. auspices, it destroyed Afghanistan’s last Christian church.Iraq: After the U.S. toppled Saddam Hussein, Christian minorities were savagely attacked and slaughtered, and dozens of their churches were bombed (see here for graphic images). Christians have been terrorized into near-extinction, with well over half of them fleeing Iraq.Libya: Ever since U.S.-backed, al-Qaeda-linked terrorists overthrew Qaddafi, Christians—including Americans—have indeed suffered extreme persecution. Churches have been bombed; Christians have been tortured and killed (including for refusing to convert); and nuns have been threatened.Surely a common theme emerges here: Where the U.S. works to oust secular autocrats, the quality of life for Christians and other minorities takes a major nosedive. Under Saddam, Qaddafi, and Assad, Christians and their churches were largely protected.Moreover, while George W. Bush was responsible for Afghanistan and Iraq, the argument can be made that, back then (2001 and 2003), this pattern of Islamic radicalization that erupts once autocrats are gone was less well known than it is today. There weren’t many precedents.Conversely, the Obama administration has had both Afghanistan and Iraq to learn from—and yet still it supports Islamists and jihadis. But by now, what happens once they assume power—religious persecution, terror, oppression—is no longer a secret.Incidentally, those who care little for the fate of Christians or other minorities in the Islamic world would do well to remember a simple truism: Wherever anti-Christian elements come to power, anti-American forces come to power. The two are synonymous.Put differently, Muslim persecution of Christians is the litmus test of how radical an Islamic society has become. In all those Muslim nations that the U.S. has interfered in—Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Egypt (till the Egyptians revolted, to the chastisement of the U.S.), and now Syria—the increase of religious intolerance is a reflection of the empowerment of forces hostile to Western civilization.I am often asked, “How can we help persecuted Christians?” At this point, one must respond: “How about starting with getting the U.S. government to stop being the chief facilitator of Christian persecution?” Altruism aside, it would be in the interests of all who value freedom, religious or otherwise—and especially their descendants.Read more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/confirmed-u-s-chief-facilitator-christian-persecution/#PmGYztpStxhuFAFu.99

Al-Qaeda Plot to Blow Up U.S. Embassy and Jerusalem Convention Center FoiledPosted by: Lea Speyer January 23, 2014 , 12:34 pm“Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6)The Shin Bet foiled a plot by al-Qaeda operatives in Israel to attack the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv. (Photo: Wiki Commons)The Shin Bet announced Wednesday that it had successfully foiled a plot by three al-Qaeda operatives operating in east Jerusalem. The three men, of Palestinian origin, were recruited online by an al-Qaeda official in Gaza. The Shin Bet confirmed that the men were planning to attack the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, the Jerusalem International Convention Center, a bus traveling between Jerusalem and Ma’aleh Adumim, as well as emergency responders who would have arrived at the scene of the attacks.al-Qaeda leader al-Zawahiri (Photo: FBI)The al-Qaeda Gazan recruiter, named Ariv al-Sham, contacted each of the three Palestinian men separately and used each of them as an independent terrorist cell. The main methods Sham used to communicate with the three operatives was through Skype and Facebook. The Shin Bet believes that al-Sham received his orders directly from Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of al-Qaeda.The Shin Bet stated that the plans were disrupted at the early stages of planning. However, Sham was very successful at how quick he was able to recruit and set up new terrorist cells, coordinate activities and money transfers, and use the internet to communicate with the three Palestinian operatives.Iyad Khalil Abu-Sara, 23, of Ras Hamis of east Jerusalem, was arrested on December 25. Abu-Sara, who has an Israeli ID card, admitted under interrogation that he volunteered to carry out an attack on an Israeli bus traveling between Jerusalem and Ma’aleh Adumim. Detailing the plan of attack, Abu-Sara explained that terrorists would shoot out the bus’s tires, causing it to overturn, and then gunning down at close range surviving passengers.LIBI-ColdWeather-600WIDEAbu-Sara is also responsible for helping to orchestrate a simultaneous double suicide bombing. One suicide bombers was to be sent to the Jerusalem International Convention Center and a second to the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv. Emergency responders arriving to the scene of the suicide attacks were then to be killed via a suicide truck bomb placed near the vicinity of the attacks.Jerusalem International Convention Center (Photo: Michael Jacobson/ Wiki Commons)Jerusalem International Convention Center (Photo: Michael Jacobson/ Wiki Commons)The individuals who were to carry out the suicide attacks were foreign terrorists. Sham and Abu-Sara planned to bring the foreign terrorists into Israel using forged Russian passports and have them pose as tourists. Abu-Sara was to travel to Syria via Turkey to undergo combat training and explosives manufacturing. He was then supposed to return to Israel where it was his responsibility to prepare the suicide bomb vets and suicide truck bomb that the foreign al-Qaeda operatives were to use. In preparation for his explosives training, Abu-Sara had already begun virtual training using computer files Sham sent him from Gaza.The second operative, Rubin Abu-Nagma, was to be responsible for kidnapping an Israeli soldier from the Jerusalem Central Bus Station. A married father of four, Abu-Nagma was also planning to bomb a residential building of Israeli Jews in the Abu Tor neighborhood in Jerusalem. He also received virtual training in bomb manufacturing from Sham. Abu-Nagma was also arrested on December 25.The third operative, Ala Anam, 21, is a resident of Aqaba, a town near Jenin. Anam was contacted by Sham using social media. He was in talks with Sham to set up a Salafi-jihadi terrorist cell in Samaria to carry out future terrorist attacks. Anam was arrested on January 7.The U.S. State Department commented on the foiled attack on its Tel Aviv Embassy. An official told the Jerusalem Post that the U.S. is “closely monitoring the situation.” The official also added “The U.S. Embassy routinely employs a range of measures to safeguard U.S. citizens and all of our employees and their dependents. We have a high degree of confidence in our own security staff and in the Israeli security forces.”The death of Osama bin Laden did not bring about the end of al-Qaeda. Its new leader, al-Zawahiri, has morphed the organization so that it branches out and conduct attacks around the world using the internet to coordinate these attacks. This allows al-Qaeda to recruit would be terrorists anywhere in the world and broadens the scope and nature of potential terrorist attacks. As seen by the success of Sham, the internet is now becoming a major weapon in the arsenal of al-Qaeda.Main al-Qaeda strongholds around the world. (Photo: BBC/ Wiki Commons)The Shin Bet points out that the foiled attack is a major indication of how the Gaza Strip has become a nest of Salafi-jihadist sympathizers and a base for al-Qaeda affiliated organizations. Hundreds of Salafi-jihadists who reside in Gaza have considerable access to rockets and weapons used to attack Egypt and Israel. Hamas allows these Salafi organizations to operate in Gaza “so long as they are not targeting them,” says the Shin Bet.The civil was in Syria has also allowed al-Qaeda to deepen its roots in countries closer to Israel. Militant Islamic jihadist rebel organizations have taken over entire cities in Syria, forcing Sharia law on its citizens and persecuting Syrians of other religions. Recently, reports from Syria have indicated that many Armenian Christians are being forced by these rebel groups to convert to Islam or die.Sham, the mastermind behind the terrorist plots, is still at large. The Shin Bet believes that Ariv al-Sham is a cover name used to hide his real identity.Read more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/al-qaeda-plot-blow-u-s-embassy-jerusalem-convention-center-foiled/#HH00z6LGhyAuD7b7.99

Israel Implements Protective Measures for Holy Sites Against Earthquakes“Your neck is as beautiful as the tower of David, jeweled with the shields of a thousand heroes.” (Song of Songs 4:4)As the tallest structure in the Old City of Jerusalem, the Tower of David is a famous and familiar symbol to residents and tourists who pass through Jerusalem’s Jaffa Gate. The ancient citadel compound contains at least 2,000 years’ worth of history dating back to the First Temple period.But the symbolic structure, among other historical structures across Israel, have some worried. There are six major cracks in the tower which raises questions if the structure would be able to survive an earthquake. Israel is located in a region extremely prone to earthquakes and a major quake could be devastating.“A major earthquake poses a serious threat and needs to be treated as such,” Dr. Avi Shapira told Tazpit News Agency. As Chairman of Israel’s National Earthquake Preparedness Committee, Shapira explained that a large earthquake will affect every aspect of life as most Israelis live near active zones. “Israel is a small country – the consequences of a large earthquake will be far reaching.”Therefore, Shapira believes that Israel has a duty to protect its national heritage sites. “We want to preserve the structures of our past and historical monuments of the Holy Land that are significant to the world.”Earthquakes occur when a sudden release of energy in the Earth’s crust creates seismic waves, which then travel through the Earth’s layers.In order to implement proper methods of protection and preparedness for earthquake threats, research and engineering is needed in order to upgrade ancient buildings according to Shapira.Israel experienced five moderate earthquakes in October, which prompted experts to install a seismic monitoring system at the Tower of David in November 2013.The Tower of David is the first heritage site that has been included in an international project that is monitoring fluctuations on a heritage site through a special monitoring system run by the University of Padova in Italy. This is the first attempt to use technology to determine the structural weaknesses in an ancient edifice in Israel.Israel has been consulting with Italian researchers, who are leading experts in the field of earthquake evaluation and monitoring, in order to learn of new ways to minimize damage to cultural heritage sites through available technologies.In a special conference at the Tower of David this week (January 19-20), called Seismic Risk Preparedness and Mitigation of Archaeological and Historical Sites, Italian experts were present to share their knowledge during unique sessions addressing earthquake monitoring.Claudio Modena, a Professor of Structural Engineering at the University of Padova, Italy. (Photo: Tazpit News Agency)Italy, located in a region with considerable seismic activity, has suffered from many major earthquakes in the past fifty years notes Claudio Modena, a Professor of Structural Engineering at the University of Padova. Professor Modena, who has visited Israel on many occasions, lead a session about strengthening existing cultural sites, this past Sunday, January 19.“Italy is a world leader in the earthquake monitoring field and conducting research in methodology for effective dealing with earthquakes,” explains Professor Modena. “Israel is new to this area and we believe that sharing our knowledge will help maintain historical structures in the event of a major earthquake.”Modena, who lives in Verona, Italy, has also investigated historical and archaeological sites in Akko, Tzfat, and Beit Shean.Other experts at the Tower of David conference included representatives from the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage as well as the Ministry of Civil Protection in Italy, and the Firefighters Agency in Emergency Response.Italian expert Luka Ponticelli (Photo: Tazpit News Agency)Luka Ponticelli, an Italian fire officer, of the Central Direction for Prevention and Technical Safety in Rome told Tazpit that Italian fire services are trained to deal with the aftereffects of earthquake on historical sites and heritage monuments. “We are the only firemen in the world that are trained in restoring buildings and reducing damages following earthquakes.”Following the conference at the Tower of David, Israel will continue to promote cooperation with academic institutions and earthquake experts in Italy.“The Italian experience in dealing with earthquakes is of great help to those of us dealing with this threat in Israel,” said Professor Shapira.Read more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/israel-implements-protective-measures-holy-sites-against-earthquakes/#HY3xwdPHTvGowXuO.99

Israel Daily News Stream 01/20/2014Obama: Peace Less Than 50% Possible, Harper: Canada “May Play a Role” with Palestinian RefugeesPosted by: Lea Speyer January 20, 2014 , 2:58 pm“The beginning of strife is like letting out water, so quit before the quarrel breaks out.” (Proverbs 17:14)Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Laureen Harper, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Sara Netanyahu (Photo: Facebook page of Benjamin Netanyahu)U.S. President Barack Obama is not so convinced when it comes to his own plan regarding peace in the Middle East. In an interview published Sunday by the New Yorker magazine, President Obama said that he believes that there is less than a 50 percent chance that the efforts of his administration can end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.Regardless of his own semi pessimistic outlook on peace, President Obama still believes that Middle Eastern initiatives, such as the Iranian nuclear program agreement and helping resolve the Syrian Civil War, still held some value. “In all three circumstances we may be able to push the boulder partway up the hill and maybe stabilize it so it doesn’t roll back on us,” he said, referring to his administration’s efforts in Middle Eastern conflict.The president’s remarks come at a very precarious time in peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is reported to be presenting at the end of the month a loose outline of a framework for peace that would bind the Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in further talks. The fact that the man behind the framework himself does not necessarily believe in the future of the agreement casts a dark shadow on prospective talks.In related news, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper arrived in Israel on Sunday on a four day whirlwind tour that includes political and social events. Prime Minister Harper is set to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss peace.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Harper “a great friend of Israel and the Jewish people” in a welcoming ceremony yesterday. “I am not just saying that,” he said, “I mean it deeply from the bottom of my heart, and I am speaking for all of the people of Israel.”Welcoming Remarks by PM Netanyahu and PM of Canada Stephen Harper VIDEOIsrael Radio, citing a report in the Arab language daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi, said today that Palestinian sources close to the peace negotiations believe that Harper will be asked that Canada pledge to absorb Palestinian refugees from neighboring Arab countries. This pledge would come as part of final status peace agreements. As of mid afternoon Israel time, Harper has not officially been asked by the Palestinian Authority to absorb refugees after concluding a meeting with PA President Mamoud Abbas in Ramallah. However, Harper was quoted as saying that Canada “may play an role” in the issue.The issue of the Palestinian right of return has heated up in the last several weeks. Abbas recently told an audience of Palestinians in East Jerusalem that he would not negotiate away any rights of refugees and their descendants to return to Israel.“Let me put it simply,” he said. “The right of return is a personal decision. What does this mean? That neither the PA, nor the state, nor the PLO, nor Abu-Mazen, nor any Palestinian or Arab leader has the right to deprive someone from his right to return.”Read more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/obama-peace-less-50-possible-harper-canada-may-absorb-palestinian-refugees/#hYi2Sr2Vo0yKmz6F.99

Lost Biblical Treasure Trove Discovered by Israeli FishermanPosted by: Lea Speyer January 16, 2014 , 1:02 pm“My son, keep my words and treasure up my commandments with you…” (Proverbs 7:1)(Photo: USDA NRCS)The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) has announced the discovery of a treasure-trove of archeological finds. First reported by Arutz7, the find first started with a phone call from Poriya Illit resident Osnat Lester to the IAA. Lester told the IAA “Stored in my warehouse there are crates full of ancient jars that were left behind by a relative, a fisherman, who has passed on. I want to hand over the jars to the state, but it is important for me that my grandchildren will know where they will be kept in the future.”(Photo: Israel Antiquities Authority)The IAA immediately sent two archeologists to Lester’s home. After opening and inspecting the contents of the crates, the archeologists were amazed to see several whole ancient jars and other objects from various time periods wrapped in bedsheets and pieces of cloth. Many of the jars were from the Roman and Byzantine era and contained wine, oils, and perfumes. One of the more impressive finds was a tall, intricate vase from the Biblical era dating back 3,000 years ago.After studying the contents of the crates, IAA archeologists believe that the jars were carried in ancient ships that sank at different points in time. Covering the jars were layers of encrustation, including chalk sediment and sea shells, which indicate the jars remained untouched for many years on the ocean floor.In related news, Hebrew text recently translated offers greater insight into treasures found inside King Solomon’s temple. The text, “Treatise of the Vessels” or “Massekhet Kelim,” describes how the treasures of the temple were spread throughout the land.TourIsrael-Resolution-600WIDEJames Davila, a professor at the university of St. Andrews, explained to the Christian Post how the treasures of King Solomon’s temple were “concealed by a number of Levites and prophets” and “hidden in various locations in the Land of Israel and in Babylonia, while others were delivered into the hands of the nagels Shamshiel, Michael, Gabriel and perhaps Sariel.”The First Temple was built by King Solomon and destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar II in 587 BCE. One of the most sought after treasures and remnants of the temple is the Ark of the Covenant, which contained the original stone tablets on which the 10 Commandments were written.Read more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/lost-biblical-treasure-discovered-israeli-fisherman/#mrU4XFFyVixKVtY9.99

Iron Dome Intercepts Rockets, Terrorists Open Fire on Israelis, and Hamas Kidnapping Plot ThwartedPosted by: Lea Speyer January 16, 2014 , 1:48 pm“Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle.” (Psalms 144:1)The Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted five rockets shot from Gaza into Israel early Thursday morning. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)In the early morning hours, five rockets from the Gaza Strip were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system. The rockets were heading in the direction of the city of Ashkelon. Three other rockets which were fired landed in open areas. No injuries or damage were reported.Shortly after 2 a.m., warning sirens went off in Ashkelon, alerting sleeping residents to quickly find their way to bomb shelters. The recent attack is the second this week. The first attack took place this past Monday, minutes after the conclusion of the funeral of Ariel Sharon. The rockets fell in an open area near the border fence.Footage of the Iron Dome intercepting last night’s rocket attackIn response to the rocket attack, the Israeli Air Force retaliated by conducting airstrikes against targeted areas. IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner stated on Twitter that the destroyed sites had hidden rocket launchers, a weapons manufacturing facility, and a weapons storage area. Direct hits were reported for all targets.twitter 1-16 2A second terrorist attack took place as well. Late Wednesday evening, terrorists opened fire from a moving vehicle on a resident of the Shomron (Samaria) who was driving near the Havat Gilad community. Miraculously, the resident was not hurt but the vehicle sustained heavy damage. In conjunction with this attack, terrorists near Hebron threw rocks at Israeli vehicles traveling close to the area. The vehicle sustained damage but no injuries were reported.LIBI-ColdWeather-600WIDETerrorist attacks in Judea and Samaria have increased dramatically over the last several weeks. One of the more favored methods of the Palestinian terrorists is via rock attacks which have proven to be lethal. The attacks are now becoming routine incidents. For example, this past Tuesday, Rabbi Yitzchak Cohen, whose son was murdered in the 2008 terrorist atrocity at the Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva, was attacked when he went to visit his son’s grave on the Mount of Olives. It was the anniversary of his son’s death.(Photo: IDF/Facebook)In related news, the Shin Bet announced that in conjunction with the Israel Prison Service, a plot by Palestinian prisoners held in Israel to kidnap Israelis in the West Bank has been thwarted. Three prisoners were found to be plotting the attack with the help of members of the Holy Warriors Brigade, a Hamas affiliate.The leader of the kidnapping ring is former Gaza resident Mahmoud Bel, 24, who has been incarcerated in the Eshel Prison since 2008. Bel recruited 21 year old Ali Harub, originally from Hebron, and 53 year old Rajab Salah Al-din, originally from Hizme. Bel is believed to have directly contacted Amar Qassem, second in command of the Holy Warriors Brigade.After being interrogated by security forces, the three confessed to their plan. They have been charged with crimes of activity in an illegal organization, contact with a foreign agent, and conspiracy to commit a crime.In a statement released by the Shin Bet, the thwarted plan was “the efforts of the Holy Warriors Brigade organization to extend the area of its activity to Judea and Samaria.” The Shin Bet credits the success of exposing the plan to Israel’s unique counter-terrorism and investigation efforts.Read more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/terror-rockets-open-fire-kidnaping-plan-thwarted/#DBTcPOBHZDL8cmie.99

Niqab vs. Hijab: How Should Women Dress in Public?Posted by: Lea Speyer January 14, 2014 , 11:21 amWoman in Afghanistan wearing a burqa which fully covers the body. (Photo: Marius Arnesen/Wiki Commons)The PEW Research Center released the results of a survey, conducted by the University of Michigan, illustrating what people in Muslim countries think a woman should wear in public. The survey was part of the overall Middle Easter Values Survey.Men and women in seven Arab countries were asked which type of dress was most appropriate for women to wear in public. Six answers were provided, ranging from a full burqa, which covers the entire body from head to toe; a hijab, which covers a woman’s hair but not her face; and no head covering at all.The results of the survey are being met with both fascination and disdain. In Saudi Arabia, the preferred style of dress is the black niqab which completely covers the face except for a slit near the eye. Overall, four countries chose a white hijab that completely covers the hair and ears as the most appropriate form of public dress for a woman.Respondents in Lebanon, almost half of respondents chose no head covering. In Turkey, 32 percent favored no head covering as did 15 percent o Tunisians. The authors of the survey suggest that this high percentage of favoring no head covering at all reflects the presence of various religions in the countries, not just Islam. For example, in Lebanon, 27 percent of the sample of respondents was Christian.Respondents were also asked: “Should women be able to choose their own clothing?” In four of seven countries, almost half said yes. Surprisingly, 47 percent in Saudi Arabia and 56 percent in Tunisia said yes. In Egypt, only 14 percent of respondents said a woman should be able to choose her own clothing.See page for Photo/Result of CountryWhat Style of Dress iss Appropriate for Women in PublicRead more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/hijab-how-should-women-dress-public/#1iAQBg7urVue7k0v.99

Abbas: Three Times No to PeacePosted by: Lea Speyer January 14, 2014 , 1:44 pm“The Lord will give strength to his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace.” (Psalms 29:11)One of the main issues on the negotiating table regarding peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians is the Palestinian right of return. In a drastic shift, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has hardened his stance on the matter and said that he would not negotiate away any right of Palestinian refugees and their descendents to return to Israel.In a speech Saturday to Palestinians in East Jerusalem, Abbas reiterated that he would not agree to peace unless East Jerusalem was the future capital of the Palestinian state. He also refused once again to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.The issue of Palestinian right of return is a fairly “new” topic being discussed during the peace process. The Palestinian position on the right of return follows language used in the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative which is based upon UN Resolution 194. Resolution 194 was adopted on December 11, 1948 and defines principles allowing for a final peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, including Palestinian refugees returning to their “homes”.During Saturday’s speech, Abbas said: “Let me put it simply: the right of return is a personal decision. What does this mean? That neither the PA, nor the state, nor the PLO, nor Abu-Mazen, nor any Palestinian or Arab leader has the right to deprive someone from his right to return.”Abbas believes that “the right of return is a personal right” and that mechanisms should be put in place that would allow Palestinians to choose whether to stay in their current locations or return to Israel.U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has been brokering peace negotiations between the two sides and has made ten trips to the region. So far, his framework of peace seems to be crumbling. Commenting on the latest round of peace talks, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro said that Netnyahu and Abbas are essentially disagreeing on almost key principles of the framework.Abbas has adopted the slogan “millions of martyrs are marching to Jerusalem,” echoing a favorite sentiment of former PLO leader Yasser Arafat.“Millions of heroes, or millions of free men are marching to Jerusalem. We want to go alive. We do not seek death, but welcome martyrdom if it happens,” Abbas told his audience.News of Abbas’s “three no’s” has thrown peace negotiations for a loop. Sources close to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Netanyahu told U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Monday that Abbas is clearly not ready to make the decisions needed to continue talks with Israel and make peace.Actions from the Palestinians have also shown the true intentions of where the peace process is headed. Monday, right after the conclusion of Ariel Sharon’s funeral, Hamas launched rockets into southern Israel. The trajectories of the rockets were headed towards the location of the funeral. The two rockets fell in an open area near the border fence.The IDF warned terrorists in the Gaza Strip before the funeral that “today is a very bad day to test.” The Iron Dome Missile System was set up around the location of the funeral to protect mourners from possible rocket attacks.IDF Spokesman Peter Lerner said: “The terrorists and their infrastructure operating in the Gaza Strip will not succeed in their grotesque intentions…Hamas and its terrorist servants are not immune; it is our moral obligation and calling to protect Israel against such atrocious acts.”In response to the rockets, the Israeli Air Force struck targets in the central Gaza Strip. Israel Radio reported that targeted areas were associated with Islamic Jihad. No injuries were reported.In the face of the recent attacks and Abass’s hawkish views, Biden told Israeli President Shimon Peres that “the one place where there is a possibility for an island of stability…is between the Palestinian people and the Israeli people in two secure states, respecting one another’s sovereignty and security.”

The P5+1 (United States, United Kingdom, France, Russia, China, and Germany) and Iran have struck a deal on how to implement the nuclear deal made in November. The official news agency of Iran stated that the agreement will begin on January 20th. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi confirmed the news and an official joint statement is expected to be released in Geneva and Tehran.

U.S. President Barack Obama praised the agreement and said that it was the first step to “advance our goal of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.” Obama added that the P5+1 and Iran “will now focus on the critical work of pursuing a comprehensive resolution that addresses our concerns over Iran’s nuclear program.”The President also said “I have no illusions about how hard it will be to achieve this objective, but for the sake of our national security and the peace and security of the world, now is the time to give diplomacy a chance to succeed.”EU negotiator Catherine Ashton commended the agreement, saying “the foundations for a coherent, robust, and smooth implementation…have been laid.”According to senior U.S. officials, as of February 1, Iran would receive $550 million in blocked funds out of a total of $4.2 billion. This would be the first payment to Iran since lifting sanctions. Economic sanctions will be eased for a period of six months. During this time further negotiations with Iran are to be continued in order to reach a permanent deal.In exchange for monetary relief, Iran has agreed to limit its uranium enrichment to 5 percent. Iran has also agreed to stop producing uranium at levels higher than 20 percent enrichment and reduce its stockpile of already enriched uranium.However, the deal does not stipulate that Iran is forbidden from producing technology needed to enrich uranium. In December, Iran announced that it was creating a new generation of centrifuges, a crucial technological tool needed to enrich uranium to potential deadly levels.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the deal a “historic mistake.” Netanyahu has demanded that Iran be stripped of all its enrichment capabilities. He believes it is only a matter of time until Iran achieves its nuclear dreams and carries out its threats against Israel and the western world.

King David’s Castle Secret Location to be RevealedPosted by: Lea Speyer January 12, 2014 , 9:59 am“Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers, and the spirit of God passed over David from that day on.” (Samuel 1:13)Detail of the statue of David (by Adamo Tadolini) in the Piazza Mignanelli, next to the Piazza di Spagna, Rome, Italy. (Photo: Wiki Commons)Detail of the statue of David (by Adamo Tadolini) in the Piazza Mignanelli, next to the Piazza di Spagna, Rome, Italy. (Photo: Wiki Commons)Next Friday, the location of a major archaeological find in Israel will be revealed by the Israel Antiquities Authority. Sources who took part in the dig have said that the find is part of a royal castle that could have belonged to King David.Newspaper Makor Rishon first reported the find. “For reasons that are not completely clear,” wrote the paper, “several authorities in Israel have decided to silence the find, which may mark a breakthrough in the perception of the period of King Davd and his son, Shlomo [Soloman], and of the entire Judean kingdom.”Of the details that are known, one confirmed find is a “proto-aeolic capital” that is connected to a column. In Israel, only 30 of these capitals have been found and of those 30, five were found in areas where it is known that Biblical kings lived.Binyamin Tropper of the Kfar Etzion Field School is credited for identifying the site, which is located in a cave in southern Jerusalem. Makor Rishon stated that the capital “apparently indicates that an entire temple or castle is buried beneath it.”Director Yaron Rosental of the Israel Antiquities Authority has said of the site: “We appear to have a complete castle here. Those who lived here after it did not know of its existence and thus, instead of using its stones to build a new building as was the usual practice, left it intact.”However, the recent discovery has found itself surrounded by slight controversy. A new section of the Israeli security fence is planned to be built nearby the site. This would leave the site and the recent in territory controlled by the Palestinian Authority.

Israel is a Renewable Light Unto the NationsPosted by: Tuly Weisz January 10, 2014 , 10:47 amOur generation has been privileged to witness not only the miracle of the blooming of Israel’s deserts, but the emergence of the Jewish State as a global leader in environmental innovation, making the Bible come to life and, to paraphrase Isaiah, causing the Jewish people to become a “renewable” light unto the nations.While much of North America recovers from a polar vortex that caused record breaking cold weather, Israel is getting ready for spring with next week’s holiday of Tu B’Shvat. According to Jewish tradition, the 15th day of the month of Shvat is the birthday of the trees and an appropriate time to reflect upon our relationship with the natural world.Genesis begins by seeming to grant man complete reign over nature in God’s initial charge to Adam to “fill the earth and conquer it (1:28).” This permission is quickly limited just a few verses later, when it says, “God placed man in the Garden of Eden to work it and to guard it (2:15).” In Hebrew, “to work” (“l’avda”) conotes our positive responsibilities while “to guard” (“lishamra”) implies negative responsibilities. Think about the police force’s motto to “serve and protect.” Working the land means that we have to plant, till and take steps to care for the world, while guarding the land means we must not engage in destructive actions like pollution and waste. Because God created the natural world and everything in it, each blade of grass is infused with a certain degree of significance. In today’s age of numerous environmental concerns, we have the unique ability, and urgent responsibility, to take the natural resources that God created and improve upon them for the benefit of all of humanity.Nowhere are environmental issues more urgent than in the Land of Israel. In His infinite wisdom, when God doled out natural resources, the Holy Land must have been in the back of the line. No oil, precious little water, barely any timber, it’s hardly any wonder that Theodor Herzl considered setting aside Palestine for resource-rich Uganda in the late 1800’s. It is therefore nothing short of a miracle of Biblical proportions, that today, some of the most exciting breakthroughs in clean technology are currently being developed by Jews in Israel.The State of Israel is one of only two countries in the world that ended the 20th century with more trees than it started with, thanks to the efforts of the Jewish National Fund in planting more than 240 million trees.Nearly one billion people throughout the world – about one in eight – lack access to clean water. More people die each year from waterborne diseases than through armed conflict, so finding a solution to this global threat is among the most pressing issues facing the world today. The Jewish State currently leads the international community in water conservation and desalination, purifying and reusing 75% of its waste water each year for agricultural use. The second most efficient nation, Spain, recycles only 12% of its water, and the US, only 1%. A turning point in Israeli water conservation occurred in the 1930’s when a Polish immigrant noticed a tree growing in the Negev desert, “without water.” Simcha Blass dug around the tree and uncovered a leaky pipe dripping tiny droplets of water onto its roots. Blass went on to develop drip irrigation, now a multimillion dollar Israeli export responsible for saving thousands of lives in Third World countries.In addition to its chronic water shortage, the State of Israel has also faced a perpetual energy crisis. Unable to rely on its oil-rich neighbors for energy, Israel has looked to the heavens to provide an alternative solution. Abundant Israeli sunshine led to the early adoption of solar water heaters, but cutting edge research and development has now advanced Israel well beyond the water heaters which sit atop 90% of Israeli homes. A Jerusalem based solar company, BrightSource Energy, recently began to build the world’s largest solar energy project in Southern California, which will produce enough energy for 140,000 homes, doubling the amount of solar electricity currently produced in the United States.Another Israeli startup has developed a material that attracts and retains dew. Shaped into trays and placed around crops, this material will take the dew that forms overnight and funnel it directly onto the plant and its roots. Field tests promise enormous water savings, reducing the irrigation water needed for crops by 50 percent. Based in the village of Gan Yoshiya, the company is named Tal-Ya, “G-d’s dew.”Many of the serious environmental concerns that now face the global community — scarcity of water resources and degradation of arable land — have confronted the State of Israel since its inception. Applying Jewish ingenuity to our biblical mandate to “work” and “guard” is now providing the answers to some of the worlds most pressing problems.Isaiah wrote long ago that one day, “The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom (35:1).” Our generation has been privileged to witness not only the miracle of the blooming of Israel’s deserts, but the emergence of the Jewish State as a global leader in environmental innovation, making the Bible come to life and, to paraphrase Isaiah, causing the Jewish people to become a “renewable” light unto the nations.Read more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/israel-renewable-light-unto-nations/#uFztzRgW3hrqcoAV.99

The Jordan Valley: Israel’s Security BeltPosted by: Dr. Efraim Inbar January 7, 2014 , 9:02 amU.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is once again in town trying to reach a framework agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. One of the issues of dispute is the fate of the Jordan Valley, which is indispensable for Israel’s national security. The Jordan Valley is the only available defensible border on the eastern front, which is the closest border to Israel’s heartland — the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv-Haifa triangle — which holds 70 percent of its population and 80% of its economic infrastructure.Many pundits claim that Israel no longer needs the Jordan Valley as a shield against aggression from the east. They argue that the demise of the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq, the weakening of civil-war-torn Syria, and the impressive stability of Jordan in light of the turmoil of the Arab world renders the threat of the eastern front and its proximity to Israel’s center a thing of the past. Yet this is a very short-term perspective, motivated by the desire to convince the Israeli public opinion that the Jordan Valley is militarily dispensable. Such a view ignores the immense potential for political upheaval in the Middle East, as recently demonstrated during the Arab Spring. The destabilization of Hashemite Jordan and Saudi Arabia and a radical jihadist Syria are not far-fetched scenarios for the near future. The re-emergence of the eastern front as a security threat could soon follow.Moreover, the U.S. decided to cut its losses and leave Iraq and Afghanistan, which constitutes a victory to all radical forces in the Middle East. A more energy-independent America might decide that it has less of a stake in the Middle East, allowing greater freedom of action to Islamist elements to take over American allies. Israel cannot count on the U.S. to always lend its weight to Arab moderates. Under President Barack Obama, Washington supported the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and might make the same strategic mistake in Jordan.Advocates of turning over the Jordan Valley to the Palestinians also discount its topographical importance by referring to current military technology, which allows precision strikes from a distance. They argue that the ability to launch defensive strikes from the coast eliminates the strategic need for the Jordan Valley as a means of defense. Yet, these armchair strategists overlook the history of military technology, which shows a clear oscillation between the dominance of offensive and defensive measures over the centuries. The belief that the technology of today — which indeed temporarily reduces the importance of topography — will remain unchallenged constitutes a dangerous strategic fallacy.Designing stable defensible borders in accordance with the current, but transient, technological state of art and political circumstances is strategically foolish. Therefore, if Israel wants to maintain a defensible border along the Jordan Valley it also needs to secure the road from the coast to the Valley, via an undivided Jerusalem and via Maaleh Adumim — 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the river. This is the only west-east axis with a Jewish majority and the only safe route via which Israel can mobilize troops from the coast to the Jordan Valley in a case of emergency.Maaleh Adumim serves as the linchpin in establishing an effective line of defense along the Jordan Valley against aggression from the east. Building a Jewish populated corridor in the 5-kilometer-wide E1 area between Jerusalem and Maaleh Adumim will secure the road to the Jordan Valley and prevent the division of Jerusalem. Jerusalem’s importance to the Jews is not only historical and religious, but also strategic. There is great importance in controlling the only highway from the Mediterranean to the Jordan River Valley along which Jews can travel with little interference from concentrations of the Arab population.The Palestinians plan to populate E1 with Arabs to create demographic contiguity between Samaria and east Jerusalem, thereby facilitating the division of the city. Such a development would also isolate Maaleh Adumim and undermine Israeli claims to the Jordan Valley. Settling Jews in E1 is an imperative to keep Jerusalem united and to consolidate Israel’s defensible border along the Jordan Valley.The U.S. seems to understand Israel’s strategic need for the Jordan Valley, but is opposed to linking Maaleh Adumim to Jerusalem as a vital component of the eastern defensible border. Yet, we should remember that the U.S. has opposed Israeli settlement efforts since 1967 and only rarely did American objections have an impact on Israeli decisions on this issue. Moreover, the Americans can be persuaded to tacitly go along with linking Maaleh Adumim to Jerusalem if a clear strategic vision based upon the principle of territorial compromise is presented.While the wisdom of indiscriminately settling the Land of Israel is not strategically compelling and is a hard sell diplomatically, a selective settlement policy focusing on areas within the Israeli consensus, including Maaleh Adumim and the Jordan Valley, can be pursued with less foreign opposition. Willingness for a territorial compromise in Judea and Samaria is also the position of most Israelis. The government must act to reflect this preference to convince the Israeli public that it is seriously pursuing peace. Israelis need such an assurance to support the government in case of international pressure to make dangerous concessions, or to fight a war if necessary. A selective settlement policy that distinguishes between important and less important strategic areas requires a gradual freeze in building and allocations to isolated settlements, and should be complemented with the removal of illegal posts located outside the areas of consensus.Building in E1 and the Jordan Valley will thus become easier in domestic and international terms. It is imperative to build homes for Jews there to establish a defensible line along Israel’s eastern border. Hopefully Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will finally implement the announced plans.First published by the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. Reprinted with the author’s permission.Read more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/jordan-valley-israels-security-belt/#BeOg9OxITIxuLRhk.99

The Israel Boycott, Anti-Judaism, and the Giant ShrugPosted by: Jackson Doughart January 8, 2014 , 10:21 am“Whoever hates disguises himself with his lips and harbors deceit in his heart; when he speaks graciously, believe him not, for there are seven abominations in his heart; though his hatred be covered with deception, his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.” (Proverbs 26: 24-26)The academics of the 5,000-member American Studies Association (ASA) are boycotting Israeli universities and scholars. The 30,000-member Modern Language Association may soon follow suit. In their communiqué, they write that this decision “represents a principle of solidarity with scholars and students deprived of their academic freedom and an aspiration to enlarge that freedom for all, including Palestinians.”Reading the material put forth by the ASA, one could be led to believe that the organization’s leadership is motivated by a considered act of conscience, akin to those who have called for sanctions and boycotts for humanitarian reasons in the past. This is wrong: the ASA’s leaders, and the members who have supported this decision by more than a two-to-one ratio, are led by their egos, not their consciences. What they’ve displayed is an extraordinary example of inflated self-importance, believing their journals and conferences in cultural studies to be far more vital than they actually are. They are also exhibiting a classic failing of the egoist: denial of one’s true motivations, often in contradiction with one’s own claims to high-mindedness and objectivity. Think of the man of means who gives ostentatiously to charity, while actually being motivated by tax-relief; or think of the hero of Camus’s novel The Fall, who helps a blind man across the street and then takes a bow for all to see.What the members of the ASA deny, against reason, is that their moral crusade is informed by an irrational obsession with Israel and Israel alone, and that this obsession cannot be separated from the fact that Israel’s raison d’être is Zionism — the nationalism of Jews. In other words, they are ultimately denying that their indignation is fueled by their attitude toward Jews and Judaism.But can’t one criticize Israel without being an anti-Semite, you ask? Well yes, one surely can. But not without distancing oneself from the entire world view of the ASA-crowd. This campaign is aimed at Israel, not the Israeli inhabitants of the West Bank, and for a clear reason: the ideology behind the anti-Israel Left is not anything like the fruit of an organic humanitarianism. Rather, there is a larger belief here: namely, that the existence of a nation-state that self-identifies with Judaism is inherently objectionable.Even Apartheid South Africa, the regime with which Israel is so often and erroneously compared, was not delegitimized in this way. No one was saying that South Africa shouldn’t be a country, but people are saying (either directly or by implication) that Israel should not be one. And in a certain way, the distinction is even more gratuitous: South Africa isn’t a nation, it’s just a bunch of lines on a map (just look at its name — it would be like calling France “Northwest Europe”); Israel, on the other hand, is a nation as well as a state.Invariably, the anti-Israel Left claims to support the right of Jews to live in Palestine, but wants a single state with an Arab-Muslim majority in control, animated by such niceties as democratic elections, freedom of religion, and the “right of return” for all Arabs whose ancestors formerly inhabited the land that is today’s Israel. They ignore two inconvenient facts: first, the Arab world has no history of democracy or religious freedom, meaning that a single-state solution would either produce a military dictatorship or an Islamic theocracy, not a liberal-democratic state; second, the Jewish population of the Middle East is now concentrated in Israel, when it was previously spread throughout the lands of the former Ottoman Empire, precisely because it was forced to flee all regional countries. (In case you think that this was a mere diplomatic protest against the creation of Israel, note that anti-Jewish pogroms by Muslims, such as those in Baghdad in June of 1941 and in Tripoli in November of 1945, predate Israeli statehood.)The desire to replace Israel with a single civic state, as the ASA exhibits with its boycott, necessarily entails support for either the subjugation of Middle Eastern Jews as second-class citizens (as they were under the Ottomans) or their extirpation from the region (as they were under autocratic Arab-nationalist regimes). To believe otherwise is to fundamentally misunderstand the nature of the states and peoples who neighbour Israel. Anything short of a secure Jewish state with a majority-Jewish population would create a plight for Middle-Eastern Jews that would make the present circumstances of Palestinian Arabs look paradisiacal. ASA-types with any shred of knowledge and intellectual honesty must know this, which is precisely why their position is so suspicious.* * *I’ve long tried to understand the contemporary Left’s obsession with the Israeli-Palestinian dispute and its tunnel-visioned view of the matter, which categorizes all Israeli actions as evil and all Arab ones as an admirable fight against oppression. One should aim to find an explanation that does not rest on a fundamental hostility toward Jews; after all, the unfounded and premature attribution of bigotry to one’s political opponents is normally the sign of a weak argument.The best such explanation that I can come up with rests on the radical Left’s predilection for anti-Americanism, which resembles far more a political position than a form of bigotry. The problem, in their eyes, is not Israel per se but the fact that it is an ally of the Great Satan. There is some empirical support for this: even figures such as Noam Chomsky were not hostile to Israel in its early existence. The country was, as one recalls, founded primarily on the principles of democratic socialism and owed to Jewish Leftists for its establishment. Chomsky even lived in Israel on a kibbutz for a time. It was only when Israel aligned itself with the United States that it became complicit, in their view, with American imperialism, and hence dismissible on principle. The Left’s anti-Israelism could thus be chalked up to the decayed ideology of anti-colonialism, which has for decades been focuses squarely on American foreign policy.The problem with this analysis is that it still does not account for the singular focus on Israel. (It would also redoubt a further irony upon the ASA: if the U.S. is the real evil, then the academics should surely be boycotting themselves.) America has many allies, many of them despicable in point of respect for human rights. Yet there have been no calls for boycotts against Saudi Arabia or Pakistan from those who want to punish Israel. There is another problem: the present iteration of the New Left, especially on campus and as represented by such organizations as the ASA, is only tangentially motivated by anti-colonialism in the way that it was during the Cold War. Today’s Left is descended from Marcusian cultural Bolshevism whose primary enemy is the social teachings of Christianity, which it views as oppressive and in need of complete repudiation.What frustrates today’s Leftists about Israel is that it stands athwart their narrative. The Jewish citizens who comprise Israel’s population are either themselves, or are recently descended from, people who have experienced oppression of an extraordinary magnitude, either in Europe, the former Soviet Union, or the Middle East. Yet they have established their state and achieved considerable progress in terms of living standards and political circumstances through precisely the societal model of the West: free enterprise, representative democracy, respect for religion in public life, a responsible ethic of nationalism, and a duty-centric form of citizenship that encourages (and in the case of obligatory military service, mandates) that individuals put the nation before themselves.According to the New Left, oppressed people are supposed to reject these things in favour of a Leviathan state that will neatly knock aside tradition and its demands for sacrifice in favour of unrestrained promotion of individual wants, allowing for an identity utopia that is free of all vestiges of the past. Its beef with the Jews of the Middle East is that, despite their oppression, they don’t do such things. And in comparison with its neighbouring Arab states, which suffer under the tyrannies of inflated grievance and conspiracy theorism, Israel thrives as a result.One would be tempted to stop here and say that the Left’s problem with Middle Eastern Jews and their state is simply ideological, and hence not bigoted, were it not for a greater point: the praiseworthy and measurably-successful qualities of Israeli society outlined above are not incidental to the country; rather, they are intrinsic to its character as a Jewish state. (One may object to this statement for the examples of free enterprise and representative government. Indeed, Jews never governed themselves during the development of these ideas, so it is dubious to say that they are “intrinsic” thereto. However, they were readily adopted as founding principles of the State of Israel, established as a Jewish state, suggesting that at the very least Israel’s founders saw no contradiction between them and their religion.) There is good reason for the term “Judeo-Christian”: despite many religious and theological distinctions, Jews and Christians are both part of an overlapping cultural tradition. And it is this tradition, and its demands upon the people who live under its influence, that the contemporary Left loathes and wishes to destroy.Read more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/israel-boycott-anti-judaism-giant-shrug/#l82XGXJRQyvIWVIM.99

Christian Arabs to be Favored Over Muslim Arabs in New LegislationPosted by: Lea Speyer January 9, 2014 , 12:24 pmMK Yariv Levin is introducing a series of bills that would favor Christian Arabs over Muslim Arabs. (Photo: Reuven Kapuchinski/ Wiki Commons)Coalition Whip MK Yariv Levin (Likud) is set to propose a series of bills in the Israeli Knesset that would legally favor Israeli Christian citizens over Muslims. Over the last several years, the Christian Arab community in Israel has been making strides in differentiating themselves from the Muslim Arab population. Levin told Maariv: “My legislation will award separate representation and a separate frame of reference to the Christian public, distinguishing them from Muslim Arabs.”One of the bills would allow Christian Arabs to choose “Christian” as their nationality on ID cards. This would officially distinguish Christian Arabs from other Arabs. Levin emphasized the need to “not refer to them [Christian Arabs] as Arabs, because they’re not Arabs.” This new law would help to increase employment opportunities among the Christian Arab community and ensure legal equality in hiring practices.Levin’s legislation also calls for the creation of preferential financial benefits for Christians. When it comes to voting, Christians will become a separate electoral sector in the municipalities they live in.Over the last several decades, Christian Arabs have been pushed out of their neighborhoods by Muslims. This trend has been on the rise especially in areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority. The attitudes of young Christian Arabs regarding their political, civic, and ethnic identity have shifted over the years so much that there has been a rise of Israeli Christian Arabs volunteering in the IDF and severing any Arab identification.According to Maariv, Levin’s main impetus to introduce this series of bills are the recent comments by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman regarding territorial swaps. Levin opposes Lieberman’s plan in that it recognizes potential for a future Palestinian state and that some160,000 Christian Arabs living in Israel will be affected.Commenting on Lieberman’s plan, Levin said the plan “has exposed the hypocrisy of Muslim Arabs living in Israel. On one hand they’re attacking Israel the terrible apartheid state and yearn for a Palestinian state; and on the other they refuse to live in this Palestinian state themselves, delegating only the Arabs of Judea and Samaria to live under PA rule. It’s shameful.”Levin hopes the bills can help fortify the relationship between Jews and Christians in Israel: “This is an important, historic step that could introduce balance to the State of Israel, and connect us [Jews] with the Christians.”Read more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/christian-arabs-favored-muslims-new-legislation/#Q1UymqmWDB0IefJe.99

More U.S. Spying Secrets on Israel to be RevealedPosted by: Lea Speyer January 8, 2014 , 10:51 am“Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out.” (Proverbs 10:9)The Snowden saga continues. Just as the world thought things couldn’t become tenser between Israel and the United States, it was revealed this week that Edward Snowden has a treasure trove of information regarding U.S. state secrets that relate to Israel.Glenn Greenwald, a writer for Britain’s Guardian and a co-author of many articles based off of classified information passed on by Snowden, told Israel’s Channel Ten news that indeed the world has not yet heard the end about some of the misdeeds of the U.S.“Yes. I don’t want to preview any stories that aren’t yet published, but it is definitely the case that there are a huge number of very significant stories left to report. We have only had these documents for seven months, which, given their volume and complexity, is not a very long time. There definitely are stories left that involved the Middle East, that involves Israel.”Greenwald, who has met face to face with Snowden, commented that he found Snowden to be “extremely honest, trustworthy and reliable.”When news broke several weeks ago that the U.S. has been actively spying on Israel for many years, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered an investigation into the matter, stating that between allies “there are things that must not be done.”News of how the U.S. has been spying on Israel caused a major uproar in Israel in regards to jailed Israeli agent Jonathan Pollard. Sentenced to life imprisonment in 1987 for spying on Israel, Pollard, a U.S. Navy intelligence analyst, has received a far harsher punishment than his crime. No U.S. president has agreed to pardon Pollard.With evidence of American double standards when it comes to spying, the case to release Pollard is even stronger. Greenwald further iterated: “I think you are absolutely right to contrast the Jonathan Pollard case with revelations of American spying on their closest allies within the Israeli government, because it does underlie, underscore exactly the hypocrisy that lies at the center of so much of what the U.S. government does.”Read more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/u-s-spying-secrets-israel-revealed/#BiCK1OlvsVFQO3hc.99